2017 Poker Tournament Season Kicks Off With First PokerStars Championship Bahamas
Atlantis Resort in Nassau will play host to the inaugural PokerStars Championship series — the PokerStars Championship Bahamas — beginning Thursday.
Who will be at the PokerStars Championship Bahamas?
The PCB is a nine-day tournament series chock full of events and activities, and of course poker pros. Team PokerStars will be well represented, with the following players expected to attend:
- Daniel Negreanu
- Jason Somerville
- Vanessa Selbst
- Andre Akkari
- Jason Mercier
- Liv Boeree
- Fatima Moreira De Melo
- Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
- Chris Moneymaker
- Celina Lin
- Barry Greenstein
- Victor Ramdin
- Jake Cody
- Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos
Golf legend and poker enthusiast Sergio Garcia is also scheduled to play.
The new face of PokerStars’ live events
Last year, PokerStars announced the union of its various poker tours and live events into a single cohesive brand, the PokerStars Festival and PokerStars Championship events.
The first of these events was the PokerStars Festival New Jersey which took place at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City in September. But, it’s the PokerStars Championship Bahamas — the new name of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure — that most people consider the official launch of PokerStars’ new live event era.
“We’re very excited about the first PokerStars Championship stop. Our aim is to host an event that will be enjoyed by players of all kinds — from the world’s biggest high rollers to recreational players who have perhaps never played at a live event before,” Edgar Stuchly, PokerStars’ Director of Live Events said in a press release.
“With over 90 tournaments on offer, this year’s schedule adopts a ‘something for everyone’ formula,” Stuchly continued. “So, for all our regulars, as well as newcomers, we extend a very warm welcome to the Bahamas and hope a great experience is enjoyed by all – both on and off the tables.”
[i15-table tableid=20717][i15-table tableid=19346]Key tournaments at the PCB
As Stuchly noted, the inaugural PokerStars Championship Bahamas boasts over 90 tournaments at price points designed to attract the highest of the high rollers, as well as poker enthusiasts and recreational players.
Here are some of the key events on the schedule:
| Date | Event | Buy-In |
| January 10-12 | PokerStars Open | $220 |
| January 12-14 | PokerStars Cup | $440 |
| January 7-9 | PokerStars National Championship | $2,200 |
| January 8-14 | PokerStars Championship Main Event | $5,000 |
| January 12-14 | PokerStars Championship High Roller | $25,750 |
| January 6-8 | PokerStars Championship Super High Roller | $100,000 |
Record number of online qualifiers headed to the Bahamas
Over 250 players will be playing in the main event after winning a prize-package online at PokerStars.
More than half of the qualifiers won a $10,650 prize-package ($5,000 main event seat and travel expenses) via $10 Spin & Go satellites that have been running around the clock at PokerStars.
The sheer number of satellite winners insures the field will contain a good mix of professional and recreational players.
#StarsFun and other activities
In addition to being on an island paradise, these qualifiers, will have plenty of non-poker activities to occupy their time.
Poker is the reason people are going to the Bahamas, but PokerStars wants to make sure they have an enjoyable experience on and off the felt. That is why the company has been putting a lot of emphasis on developing activities built around its live poker events, something they call #StarsFun.
Here’s a look at the #StarsFun activities that will be taking place during the inaugural PCB series:
- A wide array of games and activities in the PokerStars’ Fun Zone;
- Virtual reality gaming stations with a chance to win daily prizes;
- AFC and NFC tailgate and squares competitions on January 7 and 8, including a free football squares competition with prizes;
- A special 3-on-3 basketball competition on the Atlantis courts, with the winning team receiving $1,000 in tournament credit each;
- The official players’ party taking place at Aura Nightclub at Atlantis on January 13;
- ‘Breakfast with the Pros’ Q&A session before the main event hosted by Negreanu, where players and media can ask pros and celebrities a question or hear them give tips and advice on the game.
Live stream of the Main Event
If you can’t make the trip but want to follow along with the action, PokerStars has you covered. There will be a multi-channel live stream of the main event beginning on Day 2.
The final table will be streamed with hole cards on January 14.
According to a press release:
“Hosts James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton and Matt Broughton will be mixing up live commentary and studio guest appearances with quizzes, promotions and much more. The stream will be available in a wide number of languages, on desktop and mobile on PokerStars.tv, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch channels.”
You can find the live stream schedule here.